Forbidden Greys
by Shujin1
Summary: It was a dangerous game, he knew. A coat of white paint was covering the black queen and he could almost fool himself into thinking that she cared about him. She should have been his enemy. Perhaps she was still. AU Fifth Year Going under rewrite.
1. Death Eater

_**I encourage reviews of any type.**_

_**This probably won't get updated that quickly (unless its popularity surprises me) but this idea just wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote something. So here it is: **_

_**Forbidden Greys**_

It was a strange office, but that is only to be expected since it belongs to one Headmaster Dumbeldore. There was nothing about the man that could be considered "normal," not his age or his knowledge and most certainly not about his abilities. Albus Dumbeldore was a wizard. An old one, powerful as well and it was his duty to see to the education of students under his care. All of them were wizards themselves and, to be honest, the criteria one needed for a position at Hogwarts, his school, was rather easy to fulfill.

Knowledge of the wizarding world was a must, for obvious reasons. Being able to use magic was not required, but preferred for classes such as Muggle Studies or Potions. And for all teaching positions, some formal education in the subject (preferably complete education) completed the 'Must Have' list for all Professor-Hopefuls. Dumbeldore didn't think that filling spots would be difficult, and for the most part it wasn't. But there was this one pesky class that was unfortunately cursed.

A new teacher every year and with the Ministry of Magical Britain poking its nose into affairs that Dumbeldore thought they didn't have any nose-poking right to, the Dark Arts Defense subject was incredibly picky. Horror stories had long since spread far and wide about the fate of previous professors: placed into St. Mungo's one was, another obliviated so completely that he can't remember his own name (although Dumbeldore had it on good faith that Lockhart deserved it) and so on. As a result, finding willing teachers was hard, keeping them was impossible. If his hair hadn't already been grey...

The Ministy had been pressing for one Dolores Umbridge to take the position and, like the good sort that he is, he aquiesed to an interview. It was the first time in 50-some years that he had been glad for the DADA curse. But it didn't change the fact that he didn't think he would be able to handle the woman for one term, much less an entire year. It ashamed him to admit, even to only himself and Fawkes, that he had been a bit desperate and ready to accept anyone else instead.

His wish had been granted and, in a not-so-rare fit of childishness, berated himself for not being more specific.

"If you don't mind me asking, why would you do this?" It was indeed a strange office. The portraits of former headmasters were muttering in their sleep and Fawkes was no where to be found. Multiple gadgets littered the corners, each with their own unique purpose, even if most of them were geared towards a single subject.

"Would it help if I told you, that I need to?" He had already made up his mind, of course, but he needed to know more. These were rather unique circumstances. He only hoped that the rest of his staff wouldn't be too upset.

"Well then, you wouldn't be offended if I asked for an oath or vow of some kind?" Last year had been absolutely dreadful and no help at all establishing trust in a new DADA teacher. Far too many had infiltrated Hogwarts, the "safest place in the world," with less than stellar intentions. He would be taking no chances this time around.

"I'd be offended if you didn't. Very well, I, Alexandria Casconus Blackguard, hereby swear on my magic that I will not purposely inflict harm on any student or staff of Hogwarts, save in self defense, nor will I allow harm to befall aforementioned parties if it is within my power to prevent, as long as I remain in employment here." The tingle of magic and the soft glow of the oath was oddly comforting. "Satisfied?" Even as he filed the name in his mind for further research.

One could never be too careful.

"Quite. I shall leave it up to you to create a curriculum for the class." He forced a twinkle in his eyes. "Care for a lemon drop?"

* * *

It had been absolutely awful last year and, for some reason, Harry James Potter the Boy-Who-Lived, did not believe that this year would be any different. Somehow and somewhen, there was going to be trouble. He could feel it.

It was a rather mixed blessing that he couldn't feel that through his scar.

Sitting with his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, through the Sorting, Harry was both vindictively glad and greatly worried to see an empty seat at the Head Table. Last year, some Death Eater had sat there pretending to be a friend of Dumbeldore's by using Polyjuice. There was an empty seat there now, but it didn't change the fact that there was an empty seat at the Hufflepuff table either.

Cedric Diggory.

Blinking back tears, he focused hard on Dumbeldore's welcoming speech.

"Welcome back all of you. It has been a trying time for all of us but I hope that we can persevere together. Now I have a few announcements, the Forbidden Forest is exactly as the name implies: forbidden. Once again, I would like to remind older students that this includes you as well." He eyed the Gryffindor table in particular. "The list of banned items has grown once more, the list is tacked up outside of Filch's office for review. And finally, I would like to announce that we do indeed have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I hope you will all give her a warm welcome-"

The door to the Great Hall banged open and, as one, the student body turned to see. Walking into the Hall, calm as could be, was a figure garbed in black with a disturbingly familiar bone white mask.

_Death Eater!_ Harry's mind screamed at him as he began to fumble for his wand, the entire table doing the same thing. Only Dumbeldore's voice kept the curses from flying.

"Ah, there you are." A slender hand casually removed the mask, letting loose dark locks as the whole Hall stared. She was beautiful, of course (pureblood wizards and witches Harry found out, often were) with pale skin and dark grey eyes. There was a haughty expression on her face and Harry was watching her closely for any excuse to let loose a Reducto.

"I hope I am not too late." Her voice was smooth and cultured, she made her way to the Head Table as if she owned the place. "There was a small...task that I had been entrusted to fulfill."

As Dumbeldore nodded genially, one foolhardy Gryffindor called out, "What, torturing Muggles?"

She didn't answer until she sat down among the staff, next to Snape. "Hmm, afraid not." She smiled and Harry's hand twitched. Something about her...was making his skin crawl. "Why, are you volunteering?"

The third year flinched back and there was a beat of silence. "This would be Professor Blackguard," Dumbeldore began, waving a hand in her direction. "But for now: Nitwit! Odder! Blubber! Tweak! Tuck in!"

Many of the Gryffindors shared significant looks. A Death Eater was going to be teaching them DADA.

"You should be even more careful than normal Harry...I don't think I need to tell you not to trust her." Hermione mumbled, biting her bottom lip. Ron nodded with mashed potatos in his mouth and Harry picked at his food. They had all seen the Dark Mark as she rounded the Head Table. Blackguard was making no effort at all to hide it and yet Dumbeldore was letting her teach? Defense Against the Dark Arts of all things? They needed to do more than just not trust her, they needed to find out what she was doing here.

_Probably for me. _Harry thought bitterly while viciously stabbing his Cantebury steak. _It's not like it would be the first time. _He kept his eye on her throughout the feast. She might have been carrying conversation with Snape, eating and acting harmless but Harry could tell.

She kept an eye on him too.


	2. Unforgiveable

_**I encourage reviews of any type.**_

_**This probably won't get updated that quickly (unless its popularity surprises me) but this idea just wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote something. So here it is: **_

_**Forbidden Greys**_

The Forbidden Forest, with all of its shadowy dangers, had a very good reason to be forbidden to those less than capable of taking care of themselves. And, in the eyes of "Professor Blackguard" that made it beautiful.

As a Blackguard, she was used to making value judgments, such as what was beauty, that other people would decide in snap decisions. She could honestly say that she had no favorite colours, seasons, days of the week, robe fashions or any other inane object. There was no point to it. For the longest time, she had worried if it was too 'Ravenclaw' of a thought pattern: logic, purpose, _sense_ above all else.

It put her in a rather unique position, growing up in an all Slytherin family. No one understood why little Alex was doing her absolute best not to put her Ravenclaw mind to good use. She was obviously intelligent but the studious habits, the reliance on books and the oh-so-common Ravenclaw lack of common sense seemed to have skipped right over her. Worse yet, she seemed to be avoiding having to think.

She mulled everything through and would take days, sometimes even _weeks_ to come to a decision. It wasn't indecisiveness. She knew exactly what she wanted from the world.

She was just always so horribly disappointed when the world didn't seem able to give it.

As a Death Eater, she was often drawn to power. Nevermind who had it. In her mind, power, the ability to change, was force of nature. It wasn't good or evil, there was only the intention. And even with that, she split fine hairs. No one in their right mind would call the wonderful expanse of forest right outside of Hogwarts, evil, would they? If they did, it would show their ignorance. There were bowtruckles in the forest, gnomes, all manner of snakes, acromantulas...but it also had unicorns, elves and centaurs. Coexisting, none truly in any danger from the other.

This sense of power, did not endear her to other Death Eaters. Frustation at encountering a countless number of Ministry-Hoarded secrets had driven her to the Dark Lord, true. But any outstanding Auror, Unspeakable, warders or even curse-breakers had an equal chance at capturing her attention, regardless of what side they were on. She had no use for cowards or weaklings.

But spies never ceased to be a morbid form of amusement.

"What are you doing here?" Jealously protecting secrets while forming tentative connections, they were what had given her an odd appreciation for the colour of her eyes.

"I prefer forest to the dungeons and the library is currently unavailable to me." Grey was the in-between for black and white, neither good nor evil, but it was strange how the colours truly turned out on a painter's canvas. Black was the presence of all things, white the absence. It's why white was often used to symbolize purity after all, but she could think of so many more symbolisms.

"Don't be coy! You know what I mean! What are your intentions for Potter!" Death: for the absence of life, perhaps. The absence of emotions, which were always characterized by another colour, maybe. Certainly not love.

"Nothing expressively illegal, I hope." She often compared it to the light and shadows. White light was blinding, _burning_. Nothing was hidden or protected, it was the standards to which everyone was held accountable for. Stains show up remarkably well on white.

"Insufferable and arrogant as always. I should have known better." The darkness concealed, soothed. It was cold and unforgiving, yes, but there were loopholes that the darkness provided. The darkness was everywhere, stifling but light was hard to obtain and impossible to keep.

"You should have, but you should also relax. We don't want another ulcer, do we?" She was content with grey and decided after eighteen years, in the true Ravenclaw fashion, that she needed to do more research.

"Why would Dumbeldore allow you to teach, hmm? Surely, he must know that the Ministry will give him hell for this." And the results were less than pleasing. _None will acknowledge the middle. Not Albus. Not.._

"I'm under an oath," she snapped suddenly. "As long as you are a teacher here, I will not turn you in for treason, Snape." The expression on his face...there were far too few Ravenclaws among the Death Eaters apparently. "I would suggest that you work hard at keeping your position and keep quiet! The Ministry will investigate for _**a **_Death Eater and a half-blood has far less of a chance to escape Azkaban." She smiled a true genuine smile. The power she held over all of them...beautiful. "Understood?"

* * *

None of the Gryffindors were looking forward to a class with the new professor. Harry least of all. It seemed to be tradition that the DADA teachers would attempt to kill him sometime during the school year. Voldermort-possessed Quirrel, Lockhart and his thrice damned memory and vanishing charms, Remus...had been ok but seeing him transform and go wild was not comforting. And then...

He took in a sharp breath and pushed the door open, his two best friends plus Neville flanking him, and almost groaned. The Slytherins were looking far too happy and a happy Slytherin, was one causing trouble. Malfoy in particular was almost glowing.

"Take as much time as you need to find a seat, Potter," said a voice heavily tinged with amusement. He twitched but obediently stalked over by Ron, ignoring the snickers. "Welcome to Defense Against the Dark Arts, I assume you all know that this is a required class for your OWLS." Harry had to admit (while ignoring Ron's attempts at a conversation) that Blackguard was doing a good job of ignoring the stares and whispers. The Death Eater costume was gone, replaced by a black robe with blue trimmings. Slightly less terrifying but the Dark Mark was still in plain sight.

"Since this is our first class, if any of you have a question you would like answered, ask it now." Everyone was suddenly a little more alert and Harry's hand couldn't get up fast enough. "Potter?"

"What are your plans for this year?" It was worth a shot.

The left corner of her lips twitched upward. "Completing my research on spell creation, more specifically on the _categories_ involved and hopefully enable you all to get an O in your OWLS." Harry could hear his teeth grinding together. _Categories, huh? Dark magic?_

"Granger."

Hermione blinked in surpirse; usually professors knew Harry's name right off the bat but a muggleborn? "Um, what were you planning to teach us today?"

Blackguard nodded and leaned against the teacher's desk casually. "First, any last questions...? Parkinson."

"What House were you in?" Ravenclaw was not the expected answer and it affected the class differently. The Slytherins looked like Christmas had been delayed while the 'Dors were horrified. Ravenclaws, in history, had always backed Gryffindor (Information curtesy of the few bits Harry picked up from Hermione's rambling about _**Hogwarts: A History**_). She had to be some fluke.

"Now, since this is Defense Against the Dark Arts, we are first going to learn about the value of conjuring." She ignored the hands that went up. "Malfoy!"

"Yes, professor?" The boy's voice was somewhere between disdain and respect. Still annoying in Harry's opinion.

She gestured behind her. "Can you please sit at the teacher's desk for me?" He swaggered up in full view of the entire class, the derisive smirk firmly on his face. He sat down as if the desk had been reserved for him.

"Why that little-" Ron muttered and Harry nodded absently. Something was going on here...

With a flick of her wand, she conjured up a large book, setting it in front of the blond, spine vertical. "You all know that the Unforgiveables are the nastiest of Dark magics and of them, the Killing Curse is unblockable. What you know is wrong." Before anyone could think she had whipped around, wand out. "**Avada Kedavra!"**

The acid green light flashing towards Draco was all very surreal and to Harry...time stood still. Someone was screaming.

_No! Not Harry, please not Harry!_

* * *

_**Kill the spare.**_

* * *

He snapped back to reality, a dimly glowing book and a ghost white Draco Malfoy behind the teacher's desk.

Blackguard started pacing the room as if nothing had happened. "The Killing Curse, as well as the Cruciatus, is made to have a target in mind. It does not discriminate between alive and dead. It's a powerful one, and had I truly intended to kill Malfoy here, the book would not have been enough." Draco slumped out of the chair bonelessly. "Parkinson, take him to Pomfrey."

Their dear "professor" watched the two go with thinly veiled amusement. The entire class was still shocked numb. "She just...Killing Curse..." Harry didn't know who that was but for the moment, even if it was a Slytherin, he agreed.

"Well, conjuring bricks or walls is beyond what you are required to know right now, but given the events of last year," Here she gave Harry an unreadable look. "I think it would be appropiate."

There was no one protesting Harry's claim that Voldemort was back. Not to a Death Eater. It just didn't work that way.

"You are all dismissed."

It just didn't...

* * *

AN: Wow I got three elerts for the first chapter...no reviews as of yet though. Pity. Anyway, hope you like this one.


	3. Extra Credit

_**I encourage reviews of any type.**_

_**This probably won't get updated that quickly (unless its popularity surprises me) but this idea just wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote something. So here it is: **_

_**Forbidden Greys**_

Dumbeldore groaned around a Lemon Drop as Minerva McGonnagall, Transfiguration professor and his Deputy Headmistress, stormed out of his office. Some days, it just didn't pay to get out of bed.

Fawkes let out a trill that spoke of reassurance and, tiredly, the Headmaster gave his familiar a smile. This was all going to come back and bite him one day, but he had no idea as to how to stop that from happening. Last year one of his students had died. Died! He had thought that Hogwarts was through with tragedies like this; the Hufflepuffs, if Sprout's observations were as accurate as he believed, were far more timid than normal.

It was only to be expected, he supposed. Dark families hated Hufflepuff house enough to disown only children and heirs if they were sorted into it. Not even Gryffindor garnered that kind of reaction. Some of the solid Light families had some distaste for the "duffers" such as the Longbottom and Weasley families. They were all so painfully neutral (Albus himself was a prime example of Ravenclaws having their own niche in the world) that many went into law enforcement; they were less likely than any to manipulate their peers. But now it worked against them and they had nowhere to turn.

Even if it hadn't been intended, Tom had succeeded in cracking Hogwarts.

Cedric Diggory was not just a blow for his family, but for an entire Hogwarts house and Dumbeldore couldn't hope to fix it. There was still a lingering resentment for him having agreed to host the Tri-Wizard tournament in the first place, even the Ravenclaws were getting emotionally involved. No, as much as he was loathe to admit it, Minerva had a point.

Things were falling apart.

And now with this business about the Killing Curse being cast in his school, of all places...

He popped another Lemon Drop in his mouth and sighed. And he hadn't even begun to wonder how he could protect Harry in the midst of all this... and Severus as well. If Alexandria ever mananged to figure out where the potion master's true loyalties lay, the end of the year would become chaos. More so than it already was, at any rate. Not only would they lose a valuable source of information, especially needed now that Tom himself would have a hand in things, but Severus' life would also be in grave danger. And after having given so much to Fate already, he didn't fancy watching the young man break down completely.

No, he needed some way to make sure that Alexandria wouldn't give him away. But what? He sucked on the candy contemplating. Another oath?

It was almost hard to believe that he was plotting against a former student in such a way. She had been the embodiement of a perfect Ravenclaw, the Sorting Hat had said so! Where had it all gone so wrong?

Hogwarts alerted him to a guest and he made sure that his appearance of being a benign, honest, just and, most importantly, _in control_ Headmaster was in place while stifling another groan.

"Hem hem...we at the Ministry are very disappointed in you..."

Then again, perhaps having a Death Eater teach at Hogwarts wasn't so bad.

"Ah, Dolores. Welcome, welcome, Lemon Drop?"

The alternative could be far worse.

Every Gryffindor that came down to supper in the Great Hall paused at the door and then gaped a bit in shock before continuing on to the table. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were no exception. Everyone in the Gryffindor Common Room firmly believed that Professor Blackguard was evil incarnate. She even had the Dark Mark to prove it, if the eye witness accounts of her casting the Killing Curse like it was the Tickling hex wasn't enough.

She served You-Know-Who and it was common belief that she was just waiting for a chance to kill them all in their sleep. So what on _earth_ was she doing sitting at the Hufflepuff table?

"Er, mate, you seeing what I am?"

"Y-yeah..." Several of the Hufflepuffs suddenly grinned at whatever Blackguard was saying and Harry blinked owlishly behind his glasses. This didn't...make sense... Voldemort killed Cedric! They shouldn't be welcoming one of his followers!

He felt someone start to drag him to the table. "Could you be any more obvious staring?"

His head swiveled to stare at the back of Hermione's head. "But-!"

"Don't do anything rash, Harry." The Boy-Who-Lived plopped himself down next to Ron while the resident muggleborn witch sat across from him. "Like it or not, she is our professor now."

Ron sputtered. "Bloody hell, Herm! _(Language!) _This isn't Snape or Trelawney! It's a bloody Death Eater!" Harry's mind drifted.

As Ron and 'Mione were arguing back and forth about authority figures and who counted as a valid person to listen to, Harry was watching the way their new professor interacted with the Puffs. He didn't think she was recruiting...no one had any pressured or uneasy looks on their faces. It almost looked like she was telling jokes or stories, harmless, but he didn't like the way even the Seventh Years ignored the snake tattoo on her left forearm. She was dangerous, was he the only one who knew how much?

She looked up and caught his eyes, emerald green clashed against shadowed grey, before she demonstrated for an eager First Year how to do the Levitation charm. Harry frowned. _Blackguard...black hair and grey eyes...Black...was she related to Sirius? _Silently resolving to somehow find a way to ask his godfather, he continued to watch.

Until someone poked him with a fork.

"Ow! What?" Both Ron and Hermione stared at him, one in confusion, the other in disappointment.

"You weren't listening at all, were you?"

He looked between the two helplessly. "Listening to what?" They exchanged glances.

"Look, we're wondering just how much of what Blackguard teaches us are we going to use? It could be the wrong way on purpose," Ron began.

"So it might be a good idea to go over everything, perhaps we could make a club out of it." Hermione finished, looking immensely proud of herself. Instead of answering, Harry found himself spying on the Hufflepuff table again. He felt his breath catch in his throat in alarm. She was heading this way!

"Harry-"

"She's coming here!" he whispered hoarsely and all three pretended to be paying a lot of attention to their food.

"What's this?" He heard one of the Sixth Year girls ask and there was a rattle of paper.

"It's an extra credit assignment." Both Harry and Ron gave Hermione a stern look but she was already ignoring them. "I'm rather close to finishing my Spellsmithing Mastery, but I'll need some help from anyone knowledgable in Magical Theory."

Several Gryffindors tentatively raised their hands for a paper and, before anyone could stop her, Hermione opened her mouth. "What exactly are you doing for your evaluation?"

"Reversing the detrimental effects that are reserved for Dark spells," Blackguard admitted, handing the girl one of her papers right in front of Harry's disapproving nose. "Perhaps a way to reverse the insanity that the Cruciatus curse inflicts. I'm pretty sure that-" Neville's hand shot up.

There had been a flicker of genuine surprise in those grey eyes, and then understanding. "For what it is worth, I'm sorry," Harry heard her say over the sound of his grinding teeth. And then she was gone, heading for the nearest exit.

He stuffed a few more mouthfuls in before standing.

"Harry...?" It was Ginny this time from where she sat a bit further away.

He flashed her a smile. "Just getting one of those papers. Don't wait up." He bolted from the Hall before anyone got the bright idea to make him explain himself. "Wait!" He called out, seeing the professor's back. "Professor Blackguard, please wait!"

She stopped and Harry automatically went fumbling for his wand. He really needed a better place to keep it than his back pocket.

"You are rather jumpy, Potter," she drawled and, for a moment, he saw the Death Eater rather than the professor. "Anything I can help you with?"

"How do I know you aren't here to kill anyone?" He got right to the point, drawing his wand, finally, for emphasis.

She wasn't impressed. "I swore an oath on my magic to your Headmaster not to harm or let harm come to any of you." She shifted through the papers in her grip absently. "Even if I didn't, I'm a researcher, not a killer. Both here and _there._"

_There_ was a reference to Voldemort and he unconsciously tightened the grip on his wand. "And your teaching?"

"What of it?"

"It isn't flawed?" There was a heartbeat of heavy silence. When she spoke, there was an edge of ice that hadn't been there before.

"I assure you that I have better things to do in my time than sabotage every single lesson I give. I said O for OWLS, Potter, and I do try not to lie."

She made as if to leave and a brief flash of panic ran through him. "Wait! Can I...er, have one of those assignments?" He was not going to leave Hermione alone to do it.

She gave him the same unreadable look that he got earlier in class, but handed him a paper. "Thanks..." The left corner of her lips quirked into a strange half smile.

"You are very welcome, Potter."


	4. Oath

_**I encourage reviews of any type.**_

_**This probably won't get updated that quickly (unless its popularity surprises me) but this idea just wouldn't get out of my head until I wrote something. So here it is: **_

_**Forbidden Greys**_

Leader for the light and champion of ten-pin bowling, Albus Dumbeldore, had a forgiving people thing. He was willing to see the best in people and truly believed that everyone could be made to see the "light."

The most notable example of this would be Tom Marvolo Riddle. Albus had liked Tom, he was brilliant, polite and respectful. The ideal student that was a shoe-in for Head Boy and that was why he turned a blind eye when young Myrtle had been killed in the girl's bathroom. Acromantulas cannot petrify a person and there were no fang marks on the girl's body; he knew Hagrid was innocent of any serious wrong-doing and tried to make it up to the half-giant by making him Groundskeeper. He had a sinking feeling about the Slytherin, but did not act on it.

In fact, it wasn't until Tom survived that Holloween night in Godric's Hollow, did he lose hope.

The second most notable, and more successful, was Severus Snape. Once a Death Eater, now a spy after he realised the dark path that he was treading for what it was. Albus had been happy to accept him back into the fold and appraised his strength of will. The potions master was very useful to the cause for his skills and information, something he never could have had he thought the worst. For a moment, he found himself pondering the possibilities that Grindelwald could have presented but then shook himself out of it.

The third example would most hopefully be Alexandria Blackguard. As a Ravenclaw, surely she could be brought around to the proper way of thinking. Who better to guide and direct her path than another, more experienced Ravenclaw like himself!

Now, he just had to convince Harry of this.

"Lemon drop?" It shouldn't be too hard but he had to be subtle. The new professor had fit in better than he had hoped. He would have been a bit more worried if she had been a Slytherin, the hero worship that was beginning to surface in the First Years might be troublesome otherwise, but he had high hopes. Tom might have had a hand in the young Diggory's death, but he foresaw Alex as being a way to heal Hufflepuff house. Harry could very well be the catalyst but he, rightfully so, was so very suspicious of her.

"Why am I here?" Yes, he had to be very subtle...

"Harry, I've decided that there is too much of a risk in leaving you untrained." As the boy stared in disbelief, Albus was mentally tracing back Alexandria's school years. The problem must have started after Fifth Year, when her family transfered the poor girl to Durmstrang. If he could rekindle her memories of Hogwarts...

"It better not be Snape!" Yes, yes...he popped a Lemon Drop in his mouth.

"Professor Snape."

"_Professor Snape._ If it's him, I'm not doing it." Dumbeldore was disappointed in Harry, there was nothing wrong with Severus and really, holding such a grudge like that over little things was immensely childish of him. The man was worthy of respect and gratitude, but for now...he could use it.

"It's either him or Professor Blackguard, Harry."

"Blackguard!" the boy very nearly yelped and Albus placed a fatherly frown on his face.

"_Professor_," he reminded gently. "And there is nothing wrong with her either."

"She's a Death Eater!" And so is Severus, Albus thought. You know so little of how the world works, Harry.

"And as such, not only has she made an oath not to inflict harm but she is also oath-bound to protect you." He looked at the boy sternly. "And she has really done nothing to warrant such distaste in her classes, has she?"

He knew she hadn't. Even Minerva herself had, very reluctantly, praised how well behaved her classes were. He once saw the two women exchanging tips on how to teach conjuring and her with Filius on the possibility of returning the dueling club. It had been a little more than a week after the "Avada incident" and her extra-credit group had already met once in the Library. There was a small matter of keeping her mark hidden from the Ministry since she didn't seem inclined to hide it, but that could be arranged.

Harry slumped in the chair and Albus knew he had won. Er, succeeded. "Fine, fine, I'll do it."

"Excellent, I'll leave you two to decide on the particulars." He timed it so that just when the boy was about to slip out the door..."And Harry, remember...not all of us find it easy to choose the right path." Perfectly cryptic, perfectly thought-provoking and perfectly Albus Dumbeldore.

He smiled around another Lemon Drop.

* * *

"An oath? Wow." Ron nonchalantly moved his knight and Harry winced. He was going to lose this game.

"I know, and to protect me as well." The pieces on Harry's side of the board was beginning to get the idea that Harry was a bad player and were beginning to move reluctantly. One of his knights, impossibly, tripped and lay there moaning until Harry physically moved him.

"Are you sure he said that?"

"Yeah, she mentioned it a while ago too." Two moves later and Harry was trapped in a checkmate.

Hermione looked up from where she was writing this foot long essay about charms (how does she do that? It's only supposed to be five inches!) and gave the black-haired boy a repremanding look. "Oaths are not infallible, you know. _(Infalli-what? Ron grunted)_ They aren't vows and can be worked around a bit easier."

Harry shook his head, confused as Ron reset the board. "I don't get it...what's the difference? She said it was on her magic..." The Gryffindor Common Room was a bit empty this late at night, leaving the 'Golden Trio' to work on their homework (or not work on it) in peace. Harry _really_ didn't want to get started on his potions essay about the relevance of stirring so he grabbed any topic he could to stall.

"An oath is a set of consequences," Hermione began to lecture. "If you go against the terms, the consequence would be the subtraction of whatever you swore on. An Unbreakable Vow is just as it sounds: you _can't _go against the terms. An oath for Professor Blackguard means that she has a lot more leeway."

"But not without hurting herself," Ron pointed out. "For a pureblood like Blackguard, losing your magic is a death sentence...and stop calling her Professor!"

Harry mulled over it, twisting and turning it around in his mind. If she harmed him or let harm..."I need the exact wording of her oath," he interuppted before another fight could break out. "And then we can figure out what loopholes she gave herself." There was a round of nods but Hermione bit her lip.

"We should also research what she would break the oath for."

"Hello, you there, Herm? I just said it was a death sentence!"

"Exactly!" she rounded on him. "If there was a sure-fire way to kill Harry once and for all, do you think a Death Eater wouldn't take it regardless!?" Ron gulped and Harry paled.

He couldn't even imagine...well, this was Voldemort after all. If anyone would sacrifice their followers like that, it would be him. He had seen Pettigrew's arm. But...would Blackguard really..._die_...just for a chance to kill a fifteen year old boy? He didn't want to think so; she didn't seem like the rabid fanatical type. If she was, she was an even better actor than 'Moody.'

* * *

_There was genuine surprise in those grey eyes, and then understanding. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry."_

* * *

Damnit, why couldn't life for him ever be simple!?

* * *

And the plot thickens...dun dun duuuuun! There is a lot of misunderstandings going about, isn't there?


End file.
